The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) congratulates Donna Strickland, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, on receiving the 2018 Nobel Prize for her research in the field of laser physics.
“I am beyond thrilled to congratulate my colleague Donna Strickland,” said Raymond Laflamme, founding director of IQC. “Her ground-breaking work has propelled research in this field forward, leading to discoveries and applications in laser physics and enabling experiments in other areas, including quantum information.”
Photo credit: Peter Lee/Waterloo Region Record
Strickland conducted her Nobel-winning research while a PhD student under French laser physicist Gérard Mourou, with whom she shares half the prize. Their work paved the way toward the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by humankind.
The team’s research has a number of applications in industry and medicine, including the millions of corrective eye surgeries that are conducted every year using the sharpest of laser beams.
“It’s an exciting day for all of us at the Institute for Quantum Computing and the University of Waterloo,” said interim executive director Kevin Resch. “We extend heartfelt congratulations to Donna for her extraordinary contribution to science.”
Strickland is the first woman in 55 years to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Read more about the University of Waterloo's Donna Strickland: